Crystal Jane McElroy is a 30-year-old Arizona woman who is apparently unqualified for a criminal career, iif her recent antics outside the restaurant where she worked are any indication. Apparently unaware of a police vehicle that coincidentally was parked a few yards away, McElroy called 911 from the parking lot…
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced today that it is formally charging Leslie Allen Merritt jr. with 16 counts of criminal activity in association with a series of shootings primarily on Interstate 10 in Phoenix during the last few weeks. His charges include four counts of drive-by shooting, five counts…
The Phoenix Police Department received more than $600,000 in federal grant money this week to double the number body cameras on officers — there are currently about 150 cops wearing cameras in the Maryvale precinct, and with the new money, 150 more cameras will be distributed throughout the city, bringing…
The Arizona Department of Public Safety announced this evening that it had arrested 21 year-old Leslie Allen Merritt, Jr., alleging he was the man responsible for at least some of the recent shootings of vehicles along the I-10 in Phoenix. Speaking at a press conference this evening, flanked by U.S. Marshal…
The Phoenix Police Department’s Use of Force Board has decided that the officer who fatally shot Michelle Cusseaux outside of her apartment last summer, Sergeant Percy Dupra, was in violation of department policy. The findings of the board, which is comprised of three citizens and three officers, runs contrary to…
Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan could give Rob Zombie and M. Night Shyamalan a run for their money when it comes to the production of sheer horror. Save for the fact that what Zombie and Shyamalan create is mere fiction that’s finished after a couple of hours in…
Though online detractors claim they are more of a “Dolt Force,” the vigilante group calling itself “Bolt Force” is scoring international publicity from the freeway shootings in Phoenix that the Arizona Department of Public Safety is investigating. In fact, when the group’s leader, Tony “Bolt” Rowley, is not getting stopped…
After years of struggling with her gender identity, 35-year-old Kandis Capri, a transgender Phoenix woman, was finally getting her life together. She had resumed attending church and was enrolled in classes at South Mountain Community College, intent on studying theology. And for the first time in years, Capri was living…
Well, this is getting frightening, huh? The Department of Public Safety just confirmed that 11 vehicles have been hit by what looks what is now being called “the I-10 Shooter.” Beginning on August 29, vehicles on Interstate 10 seem to have become de facto target practice for an unknown individual…
Will hiring 425 new Phoenix police officers come at the expense of greater accountability and better civilian-officer relations? Or will more officers mean less violent crime and a safer city? Amid a national conversation about law enforcement’s use of force policies and frightening statistics about the Phoenix Police Department’s record…
Good job, Arizona? Over Labor Day weekend, 1097 law enforcement agents around the state pulled over 14,212 drivers and arrested 450 of them on DUI charges – that’s 100 fewer arrests than last year despite 1,200 more people getting pulled over. The cops caught about the same number of drunk…
Self-help guru and ex-con James Arthur Ray is trying not to let the 2009 deaths of three people at his Arizona sweat lodge extinguish his once-promising motivational-speaking career. On Friday, Ray is scheduled to return to Phoenix for a “one night only,” question-and-answer session called: “A Night of Solutions.” “James will…
It’s puzzling that in the age of Uber and Lyft, hundreds of Valley residents are expected to get pulled over this Labor Day weekend and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. But it always happens during long holiday weekends, despite the many warnings in the media. Last year, law enforcement…
Phoenix motorists taking the I-10 over the long Labor Day weekend will have more to worry about than just holiday traffic. They face the unnerving prospect that a windshield, a side door or the gas tank of their vehicle could be pierced by a random bullet, fired by an unknown…
A Phoenix man held in connection with the May 3 attack in Garland, Texas, wants a new lawyer and claims in a handwritten letter to the court that the FBI took two DNA samples from him without permission. The document was released publicly on September 1 and obtained by New…
On a March night 37 years ago, a young Glendale woman was gruesomely shot to death in her car on a secluded street after an evening of shopping at nearby mall. Her slumped over body and 1976 Toyota Celica were discovered around 8:30 p.m. by a local jogger on the…
A sadistic pimp who ran a bizarre, cult-like harem of prostitutes modeled on a film of the French novel The Story of O faces a lifetime in prison after being convicted July 17 on 105 felony counts, involving sex with minors, pandering and child prostitution. Prosecutors say 60-year old Anthony…
You’d think a man trying to lock his girlfriend in a building and set it on fire would use more than shoelaces to tie the door shut. Much like you’d think he’d know better than to carry four lighters in his pocket when he returned to the scene of the…
An inmate accused raping a teacher at an Arizona prison pleaded guilty Monday. Jacob Harvey, 21, did not take a plea agreement. Prison time for his crimes, rape, kidnapping, and assault with a deadly weapon, won’t begin until after he finishes he current term in 2041, according to the Pinal…
A new study comparing the best and worst states for underprivileged children ranks Arizona 49th in the nation. Only Mississippi and the District of Columbia received worse scores. (In sub-categories, we ranked 50th out of 51 in early-foundations and economic well-being, 37th in health, and 48th in education.) The study…
Twelve adults and three minors were arrested inside of a west Phoenix Walmart Friday night after approximately twenty protesters took their anti-police brutality message into the crowded store. The group entered the building around 8:30 p.m. while chanting “stop police brutality” and “cops, pigs, murderers,” and were followed by a…
Using the popular hashtags #SayHerName and #BlackLivesMatter, people across the country are expected to take to the streets this weekend and demand accountability for, and attention to, the all-to-frequent instances of police violence against black Americans. Rallies will be held in many cities all weekend as citizens demand a response…
